Business
‘Insecurity, Floods’ Hamper Bakhshabad Dam Project in Farah
It has been a year since the contract was signed for construction of Bakhshabad water dam in western Farah province but work on the project yet to begin.
Bakhshabad dam is one of the important economic projects in Afghanistan that will be built on Farah Rud River.
Last year, the government signed the contract worth $4.5 million with an Italian firm to build the dam. The minister of Water and Energy, Ali Ahmad Osmani says insecurity and floods have delayed the dam’s initial works.
“Since last few weeks, we started working on the geological and topographic survey [mapping of the natural location] in the dam.”
“After ending the diversion tunnel’s design work, we aim to start working on the construction of the tunnel as well, which takes a long time, so it could pave the way for building the frame of the dam.”
The dam has the capacity to generate 27 megawatts of electricity and irrigate 104 thousand hectares of land. With 81 meters of height, it will be capable of reserving 1,360 million cubic meters of water.
The dam, meanwhile, would be effective for expansion of the forests and handling floods in the province.
The Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Ministry spokesman, Lotfullah Rashed said: “The completion of the dam will be a significant step to irrigate about 100 thousand hectares of land, and it will play an important role on the crops being obtained from these areas next year.”
Business
Export volume totals over $140 million in last month of 1402
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
Business
Afghanistan-Kazakhstan chamber of commerce opens in Herat
The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.
According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.
The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.
Business
Afghanistan reaches self-sufficiency in production of 133 items: MoIC
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says Afghanistan has reached self-sufficiency in 45 sectors and the production of 133 items, and that the ministry is striving to change Afghanistan from an importing country to an exporting one.
The ministry officials said that for this purpose, supporting domestic products and attracting investment is essential.
The ministry’s spokesman Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada emphasized increasing the use of domestic goods and products in government and national projects and added that efforts have also begun to find a market for domestic products inside and outside the country.
“We have reached self-sufficiency in 133 items of production, which is 45 sectors, and also we reached the capacity of semi-self-sufficiency in 95 items of production, which is 27 sectors,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM) says over the past two and a half years, more attention has been paid to the development of domestic production and it is also expanding.
The chamber officials stressed expanding the culture of using domestic products in government projects.
“I think that the government is one of the biggest consumers in the market if it uses domestic products in all its development projects,” said Abdul Nasir Rashtia, a member of ACIM.
Economic experts also said that if the use of domestic products in government projects increases, Afghanistan will quickly move towards economic independence.
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